KTRV Fox 12 Two Idaho Statesman Newspaper Carriers Killed
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Canyon County, Idaho -- The Idaho Statesman is mourning the tragic loss of two of their newspaper carriers. Gene and Darlene Sell died in an early morning accident in rural Canyon County while delivering papers along their regular daily route.
Just before 4 a.m. Monday, Cindy Hess woke up to a loud noise outside her bedroom window.
"Sounded like thunder," she said.
That thunder was the sound of a deadly accident. Idaho State Police say a pickup truck ran a stop sign at Hollow and El Paso roads in rural Canyon County and collided with a semi-tractor hauling a milk tanker trailer.
The impact knocked the street sign off the pole, uprooted one of the trees in Hess' yard, and ejected the man and woman inside the pickup. Gene Sell, 73, and his wife, Darlene, 68, weren't wearing their seatbelts and died at the scene.
"It's a real tragedy for us here," said Jeff Brinley, circulation director for The Idaho Statesman.
The Sells were newspaper carriers for The Idaho Statesman. They had been delivering papers along the more than 100-mile route since June.
"Good carriers, had been on route for a little more than six months, did a great job. The district manager says they never got any complaints, always took care of their customers in a timely fashion," said Brinley.
Since carriers usually travel the same roads during their route, some wonder why the couple drove right through the stop sign.
"Concerned that they know the area, what could've happened, what could've went wrong?" said Hess.
Questions that will never be answered as their lives were suddenly taken away.
"We really feel for the family of these folks. It's a tough day for them and us here. We really feel for them," said Brinley.
The driver of the semi, Stanley McGill, 70, of Nampa, was treated and released from the hospital. The accident remains under investigation by the Idaho State Police.
